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First Battle of Kirkwall
{| align="right" | The Second Qunari Invasion of Kirkwall was an engagement between the Qunari forces stranded in Kirkwall and the forces of the city, including the Kirkwall City Guard, Hawke, and their companions, the local chapter of the Templar Order and the city's Circle of Magi. The invasion ended with the defeat of the Qunari and the death of both the Arishok and Kirkwall's Viscount. Prelude Prior to the year 9:33 Dragon, the infamous pirate and duellist Isabela was in possession of the Tome of Koslun, a Qunari artifact which she had stolen from the possession of Orlais, and was being pursued by the Arishok himself, as well as a significant force of Qunari warriors. Unfortunately for them, a storm dashed their ships against the Wounded Coast and stranded them all in Kirkwall. Viscount Dumar, the leader of Kirkwall "granted" the Qunari some space on the docks as a form of appeasement while they waited for transport back to Par Vollen, while the now shipless Isabela worked as a smuggler inside the city. The Qunari could not leave without the Tome back in their possession, while their attempts at finding it went poorly at best. Over the intervening years, Chantry zealots began protesting and acting out against the "heretical" Qunari, their fear and contempt for the foreign religion causing no small amount of friction between the newcomers and the rest of the city. The zealots began looking for any excuse to set the whole city and the Chantry itself against the Qunari, particularly as various Kirkwall citizens, mostly elves, began to convert to the Qun to find a semblance of purpose. These fanatics could not endure the existence of a competing ideology and so hounded the Qunari mercilessly, while the rest of the population felt uneasy about the presence of so many potentially hostile warriors, especially given that the Qunari seemed uninterested in anything Kirkwall had to offer, including trade. The Qunari, meanwhile, deliberately isolated themselves in their search for the Tome; moreover, as time passed, many of their number began to forsake the Qun and become Tal-Vashoth, while the Arishok could only brood and seethe at what he considered to be the aimless corruption of the city and its inhabitants. Immediately before the battle, the viscount's son, Saemus Dumar, was murdered by Chantry fanatics for being an ally of the Qunari, as he had previously attempted to join them. Fearing that others would follow him, a fanatical Mother of the Chantry named Petrice had him murdered and the blame pegged on Hawke, hoping to turn the boy into a martyr for the anti-Qunari cause and inspiring the city to oust them once and for all. While Petrice's attempts to ignite a pogrom had failed, the Arishok saw the death of someone under his command by this plot the final insult, and so subtly began to prepare his forces for war. The battle The Guard-Captain Aveline Vallen of the Kirkwall City Guard, and Hawke attempted to negotiate with the Arishok for the release of two elven murderers who had claimed religious sanctuary with the Qunari. The elves claimed that they were justified in murdering a corrupt guardsman for raping their sister. As the guard tried pressing the issue, the Arishok declared that he was unwilling to remain at an impasse any longer; he could not leave without the Tome, but would not allow the city's "corruption" to persist any longer, and so ordered his forces to attack. The contingent of city guards present in the compound were quickly slaughterred, with only Hawke and Aveline escaping. The Qunari then spread out to the rest of Kirkwall in a well coordinated attack, pushing directly into Hightown, while barricading many of the side streets in Lowtown to ward off any flanking force. Aided by their local converts, the Qunari swiftly broke through scattered bands of guardsmen and gangs like, seizing control of Hightown and the Viscount's Keep. As they began to secure the Keep, squads were dispatched to capture as many members of the local nobility as possible, holding them hostage within the keep. Only a few managed to escape, taking refuge within the Chantry and were missed as Hawke led a counterattack up to Hightown. The viscount himself was decapitated by the Arishok, who then planned on indoctrinating all the city's nobility into the Qun or he would kill them. With the nobility either converted or held hostage, he hoped to break the city's will and prevent any force from moving against his depleted troops. Amidst the chaos, Hawke and Guard-Captain Aveline joined forces with First Enchanter Orsino and Knight-Commander Meredith, respective leaders of Kirkwall's Circle of Magi and templars, to storm the keep and retake the city from the Qunari. Aftermath With the Qunari presence evicted from Kirkwall (though some remained either as Tal'vashoth or to retrieve Qunari blades), all of the nobility who were held captive in the keep were grateful towards Hawke for saving their lives. Thus, Hawke was declared Champion of Kirkwall. With the death of the viscount, Meredith stepped in to maintain order. She effectively assumed the viscount's position all but in name. Kirkwall soon became a templar-controlled police state, paranoid with fear of maleficarum. The Qunari's old compound was turned into another templar training facility after they left, and was still under construction by the time the war began. Category:Lore Category:History Category:Conflicts